What types of practices are relevant to the local and how to link it with the practices at the Vocational training center?
The building material available locally in Malakal Area
The Sand and Gravel
I want along the River Nile to see how the sand and gravel being processed, how is being pack and to see if the quality is accepted by the local builder and contractors. And how the availability of these materials can contribute in training process at the MVTC.
There are more than 20 point along the river where by the people use to get the sand out from the river, most of the workers in this business are women, and they are about 70% and the 30% are small boys their age range from 12 to 15 years old.
I interview a group of women they are collecting the sand from the river and dry it, then seal it out to the costumers; I asked them the following questions.
How do you investigate the area to get the sand?
We get into the river and start touching by our hand and feel it. the sand is usually mixed with clay and mud.
1- We wash it in the water for two times after that we put in container, and, the container should have many holes in the bottom to allow the fine sand grain passage down.
2- We wash it again until the sand became clear
3- We bring the sand and put it out in the sun until it dry
How many bags do you produce per day?
Individually, each can make 2 to 5 bags.
How do you transport it from the river side to where you are now?
The distance from the river to here is 50 meter some time we carry it top of our head, and some time we rent donkey to transport it to us. we pay 20 SDG for that.
How many are you in this business?
We are 20 women, our work as a group started 10 year ago.
What is the sealing price per bags? It is 12 SDG
Your bussinse is it profitable?
Yes
How do you organize the sealing?
When payer come to us we see if he need ten bags of sand we divide among our self each has to bring in half bags. So we usually seal equally among us.
What is your daily sealing? It depends on the market but the average per day is 5 bags, normally we seal direct to the builder. They use to come here to pay from us.
What is the different between the sand bought for North and this one?
Our sand is cheep and is more strong.
In the same place another women sealing food. I interview her. I asked her
How did she start the business?
She said “I am one of this group, we are collecting the sand form the river together, I see there is need among us for food. So I decided to cook for them the launch and seal it with a reasonable price".
Is it profitable?
Yes, at last I am getting money to support my family with the basic needs.
How much do you earn per day?
Its about 20 SDG.
From there I went to another group of young boys. They are three two of them are clean the sand while the other one is taking it form the river to the place where they put it to dry.
I asked the youngest one which is 12 year old.
What made you to start this business at these age?
He said I am students in 2nd year basic school, I work together with my elder brother 14 years old his in basic 6. The reason the teacher in the school need us to pay the school fees. We in addition we are approach Ex-mass we need to collect some money to pay the clothes.
These boys they don’t consider the quality of the sand, if it is clean or not. Their aim is to process and seal it out to get their daily need.
Building Site:
I want to a building site to enquire about the different from the sand that come from Kosti and the one from the river.
Jamal who is a builder they are constructing a public toilet to by use during the CPA cerebration in Malakal on the 9th January 2009.
What is the different between the sand from Kosti and the local sand?
Jamal said “the quality of the locally it has big grains, while the one from kosti has fine grains, we normally mix it with the one from kosti to obtain strong sand”. The different also is “during the plastering with the local one you obtain rough surface while with the imported one we obtain smooth surface.”
How much do you pay for both?
The one from Kosti we pay 15 to 17 SDG per a bag, while for the sand from the river we pay 12 SDG per a bag.
I visited another builder called Dak, and asked him
What is the different between the sand from Kosti and the local sand?
He said “the quality of local one it depends on the person processing it in the river, some use to wash it several times, in this case they produce the fine grains sand, while other wash it two or three times then, they obtain the rough grains sand”.
Which sand are you using at the moment?
He said “ I am using both sand, because normally I have to use the two in order to obtain the good work quality”
How much do you pay for both?
The one from Kosti we pay 15 to 17 SDG per a bag, while for the sand from the river we pay 12 SDG per a bag.
Local Market
Then I decided to visit the local market to interview them, and see if they are sealing the locally sand.
I meet one of the building material sellers beside the big mosque, in the main market of Malakal, Mr. Deng Job. I introduced my self to him and the purpose of my visit.
I asked him;
Are you get your supply for the sand locally or from some where else?
He said “ I am getting my supply from Kosti”
Then I asked him. Do you some times seal the local sand?
He said “the local sand we seal it on demand, some builder use to order it and we bring to them direct from the river”
What is the different between the both two sand? He answered “the local one it has good quality of grains. But some time it may contain a lot of clay/mud elements on it, and this because the local people some time they don’t wash it to be clean and remove the mud, so if they take care of it when they are washing it the could obtain good quality that will be marketable with a reasonable prices”
How much do you seal for both? He answered “The one from the river is relatively cheep compared with the one from kosti”
I see you have blocks around. Do you made them locally, or you pay it from somewhere and seal it?
He answered “I made it locally in this place. I bring somebody form kosti to train the labour locally. When the training finish. my workers start the production”
What is the daily average for your products? He said “It depends but normally it goes upto 300 per day”.
Which sand are you using for the blocks production?
He said “I am using the local sand. Because it has big grains, and these help to produce a good quality of block”.
What is the price for one block compared with the imported one? It has the same price that is 8 SDG per piece.
The Gravel:
The production of the gravel is in very small quantities, very poor quality. But if the local people put there attention on it, and search properly in the river it can be found somewhere.
Reflection:
The objective of my research, I was looking for answers for the following questions
What types of practices are relevant to the local and how to link it with the practices at the Vocational training center?
What are the available material locally?
The building material available locally in Malakal Area
The Sand and Gravel
I want along the River Nile to see how the sand and gravel being processed, how is being pack and to see if the quality is accepted by the local builder and contractors. And how the availability of these materials can contribute in training process at the MVTC.
There are more than 20 point along the river where by the people use to get the sand out from the river, most of the workers in this business are women, and they are about 70% and the 30% are small boys their age range from 12 to 15 years old.
I interview a group of women they are collecting the sand from the river and dry it, then seal it out to the costumers; I asked them the following questions.
How do you investigate the area to get the sand?
We get into the river and start touching by our hand and feel it. the sand is usually mixed with clay and mud.
1- We wash it in the water for two times after that we put in container, and, the container should have many holes in the bottom to allow the fine sand grain passage down.
2- We wash it again until the sand became clear
3- We bring the sand and put it out in the sun until it dry
How many bags do you produce per day?
Individually, each can make 2 to 5 bags.
How do you transport it from the river side to where you are now?
The distance from the river to here is 50 meter some time we carry it top of our head, and some time we rent donkey to transport it to us. we pay 20 SDG for that.
How many are you in this business?
We are 20 women, our work as a group started 10 year ago.
What is the sealing price per bags? It is 12 SDG
Your bussinse is it profitable?
Yes
How do you organize the sealing?
When payer come to us we see if he need ten bags of sand we divide among our self each has to bring in half bags. So we usually seal equally among us.
What is your daily sealing? It depends on the market but the average per day is 5 bags, normally we seal direct to the builder. They use to come here to pay from us.
What is the different between the sand bought for North and this one?
Our sand is cheep and is more strong.
In the same place another women sealing food. I interview her. I asked her
How did she start the business?
She said “I am one of this group, we are collecting the sand form the river together, I see there is need among us for food. So I decided to cook for them the launch and seal it with a reasonable price".
Is it profitable?
Yes, at last I am getting money to support my family with the basic needs.
How much do you earn per day?
Its about 20 SDG.
From there I went to another group of young boys. They are three two of them are clean the sand while the other one is taking it form the river to the place where they put it to dry.
I asked the youngest one which is 12 year old.
What made you to start this business at these age?
He said I am students in 2nd year basic school, I work together with my elder brother 14 years old his in basic 6. The reason the teacher in the school need us to pay the school fees. We in addition we are approach Ex-mass we need to collect some money to pay the clothes.
These boys they don’t consider the quality of the sand, if it is clean or not. Their aim is to process and seal it out to get their daily need.
Building Site:
I want to a building site to enquire about the different from the sand that come from Kosti and the one from the river.
Jamal who is a builder they are constructing a public toilet to by use during the CPA cerebration in Malakal on the 9th January 2009.
What is the different between the sand from Kosti and the local sand?
Jamal said “the quality of the locally it has big grains, while the one from kosti has fine grains, we normally mix it with the one from kosti to obtain strong sand”. The different also is “during the plastering with the local one you obtain rough surface while with the imported one we obtain smooth surface.”
How much do you pay for both?
The one from Kosti we pay 15 to 17 SDG per a bag, while for the sand from the river we pay 12 SDG per a bag.
I visited another builder called Dak, and asked him
What is the different between the sand from Kosti and the local sand?
He said “the quality of local one it depends on the person processing it in the river, some use to wash it several times, in this case they produce the fine grains sand, while other wash it two or three times then, they obtain the rough grains sand”.
Which sand are you using at the moment?
He said “ I am using both sand, because normally I have to use the two in order to obtain the good work quality”
How much do you pay for both?
The one from Kosti we pay 15 to 17 SDG per a bag, while for the sand from the river we pay 12 SDG per a bag.
Local Market
Then I decided to visit the local market to interview them, and see if they are sealing the locally sand.
I meet one of the building material sellers beside the big mosque, in the main market of Malakal, Mr. Deng Job. I introduced my self to him and the purpose of my visit.
I asked him;
Are you get your supply for the sand locally or from some where else?
He said “ I am getting my supply from Kosti”
Then I asked him. Do you some times seal the local sand?
He said “the local sand we seal it on demand, some builder use to order it and we bring to them direct from the river”
What is the different between the both two sand? He answered “the local one it has good quality of grains. But some time it may contain a lot of clay/mud elements on it, and this because the local people some time they don’t wash it to be clean and remove the mud, so if they take care of it when they are washing it the could obtain good quality that will be marketable with a reasonable prices”
How much do you seal for both? He answered “The one from the river is relatively cheep compared with the one from kosti”
I see you have blocks around. Do you made them locally, or you pay it from somewhere and seal it?
He answered “I made it locally in this place. I bring somebody form kosti to train the labour locally. When the training finish. my workers start the production”
What is the daily average for your products? He said “It depends but normally it goes upto 300 per day”.
Which sand are you using for the blocks production?
He said “I am using the local sand. Because it has big grains, and these help to produce a good quality of block”.
What is the price for one block compared with the imported one? It has the same price that is 8 SDG per piece.
The Gravel:
The production of the gravel is in very small quantities, very poor quality. But if the local people put there attention on it, and search properly in the river it can be found somewhere.
Reflection:
The objective of my research, I was looking for answers for the following questions
What types of practices are relevant to the local and how to link it with the practices at the Vocational training center?
What are the available material locally?
What is the quality of these materials compared with the imported one?
How can the MVTC utilize these opportunities?
I want along the River Nile to see how the sand and gravel being processed, how is being pack and to see if the quality is accepted by the local builder and contractors. And how the availability of these materials can contribute in training process at the MVTC.
This interview show that, the building materials like sand, gravel and blocks can be obtained locally with a reasonable price, compared with, the building materials being imported form outside Upper Nile State. Even though the quality is poor but it can be improved. As one of the builder mentioned that. The quality of the sand depends on the process. If the processor clean it well, they can obtain a good quality relative the same like the one from Kosti.
How can the MVTC utilize these opportunities?
I want along the River Nile to see how the sand and gravel being processed, how is being pack and to see if the quality is accepted by the local builder and contractors. And how the availability of these materials can contribute in training process at the MVTC.
This interview show that, the building materials like sand, gravel and blocks can be obtained locally with a reasonable price, compared with, the building materials being imported form outside Upper Nile State. Even though the quality is poor but it can be improved. As one of the builder mentioned that. The quality of the sand depends on the process. If the processor clean it well, they can obtain a good quality relative the same like the one from Kosti.
But the local people who are engaged in this business. Some of them they are doing it for economic propose. May be if their economic situation improve by any reason they may not continue doing these work any more. Because of this also the production is very low. For example the young boys in the above page if they get the money for the school and the cloth they may not come again for the business, unless if they are in need again.
The women are having limited access to the sand in the river, the same to the young boys. They can not go deep into the river. Deep you go into the river more you get the clear sand.
I think, there should be in future a means for getting the sand for the river using the modern technology if the local people, the investors pay their attention in these work. To increase the production of sand and gravel.
Another good example I found is the building materials seller Mr. Deng, he sees the business opportunity on not only selling the sand only as a raw material. But transferring it into a useful product. By doing so he created employment and contribute for the availability of the building materials locally. He is a good example for other trader to follow him.
For me I see many opportunities for the local vocational training centre. But I prefer to put it inform of questions:
1- Those people practicing this trade, sand processing, can they be give a training that can help to make a good treatment for the sand, to remove the clay elements from the sand?
2- Is it possible for the Malakal Vocational Training Centre (MVTC) welding and machine shop department to produce wheelbarrow to help these people in transporting the sand from the river to where they dry it?
3- Is the MVTC ready to organize training program for short course in block making?
4- How can the VTC make the link between what is being practice out side with what they are doing?
As I mentioned in the beginning my questions have been answered. But more questions come out as mentioned in the last four questions.
I think, there should be in future a means for getting the sand for the river using the modern technology if the local people, the investors pay their attention in these work. To increase the production of sand and gravel.
Another good example I found is the building materials seller Mr. Deng, he sees the business opportunity on not only selling the sand only as a raw material. But transferring it into a useful product. By doing so he created employment and contribute for the availability of the building materials locally. He is a good example for other trader to follow him.
For me I see many opportunities for the local vocational training centre. But I prefer to put it inform of questions:
1- Those people practicing this trade, sand processing, can they be give a training that can help to make a good treatment for the sand, to remove the clay elements from the sand?
2- Is it possible for the Malakal Vocational Training Centre (MVTC) welding and machine shop department to produce wheelbarrow to help these people in transporting the sand from the river to where they dry it?
3- Is the MVTC ready to organize training program for short course in block making?
4- How can the VTC make the link between what is being practice out side with what they are doing?
As I mentioned in the beginning my questions have been answered. But more questions come out as mentioned in the last four questions.
The sand being transported to building site
This amonut of sand cost 30 SDG
she is packing the sand
